E-Financial
CBN Asks Banks to Set Up Fraud Desks
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has in a circular directed Deposit Money Banks to maintain dedicated fraud desks in order to stem frauds within the banking industry.
The CBN also said that it had established the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) to proffer solutions to the issue of frauds arising from the increased adoption of electronic payments.
According to Mr. Dipo Fatokun, director, Banking and Payments Systems Department, CBN, the directive followed submissions to the bank by the NeFF and consultation with banks and electronic payments service providers, it had become imperative that an effective mechanism for receiving and responding promptly to fraud alerts be set up in the banking industry towards managing and reducing successful electronic payments fraud rates.
Fatokun said, “To this end, all DMBs, MMOs, switches and all payment service providers are hereby directed to maintain a dedicated fraud desk in their respective organisations.
“The fraud desk shall be appropriately staffed with personnel that have requisite training on emerging fraud trends on various electronic payments channels.”
The circular stated that the desk would provide support to customers on electronic frauds, with a minimum of 10 dedicated phone lines manned and available at all times.
The desk is also expected to log on all customer fraud alerts and complaints, and redirect them to the appropriate authorities in line with internally pre-defined path, while preparing and submitting reports regularly to the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System on fraud information.
The desk is expected to sensitise customers on e-fraud and fraud desk services as well as manage/resolve all intra-bank issues by leveraging on enterprise fraud management system.
“Banks shall implement across all electronic channels an enterprise fraud monitoring system, which ensures behavioural monitoring, patterns and hold/block controls on transactions suspected to be fraudulent.
“The provisions of this circular shall take effect from July 1, 2015, and failure to comply shall attract appropriate sanctions,” the CBN said.
Under the new arrangement, the NIBSS will be responsible for coordinating the industry as the provider of electronic platform for all the fraud desks across all banks, mobile money operators, switches and payments service providers to log frauds.
The NIBSS will also maintain direct and dedicated lines as well as email contacts of all stakeholders for the purpose of exchanging information and coordinating industry response to fraud attempts and incidents.
It will also ensure that the DMBs receive enhanced e-fraud portal/instant payment platform, with capabilities for banks to initiate ‘block’ and ‘hold funds’ electronic messages from a bank’s fraud desk to the other, while providing operational rules for effective fraud desk coordination.
Under the new arrangement, interbank transactions on all electronic channels are expected to be passed through the central anti-fraud solution in the NIBSS, which will have access to each bank’s record of fraudulent transactions and provide monthly reports to the CBN.
World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
Ecobank, a pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Google Cloud in a deal to improve financial services with advanced analytics, AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa.
This collaboration will focus on leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced technologies and AI to enhance Ecobank’s digital offerings to accelerate the digital transformation of the Bank.
The partnership agreement is designed to empower individuals, support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, and contribute to the overall economic development of Africa.
“Our collaboration with Google Cloud is a leap forward in Ecobank’s digital transformation journey. We look forward to leveraging Google Cloud’s world-class technology to unlock new possibilities for individuals and businesses to grow and scale across Africa,” said Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer of Ecobank.
“This collaboration signifies our shared intent to explore building a more connected and financially inclusive future for the continent.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Ecobank have a shared vision for using technology to help deliver financial empowerment to more people and businesses in Africa.
“We look forward to exploring the ways our cutting-edge AI, powerful data analytics, and scalable infrastructure can support Ecobank’s efforts to fuel the continent’s economic development and digital future.”
The collaboration aims to simplify and streamline money transfers, both domestically and across borders. By leveraging Google Cloud’s capabilities, including its powerful data analytics platform, BigQuery, for AI-driven insights, Ecobank will aim to develop solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs, simplify payment acceptance, and provide valuable data-driven insights to help businesses scale across more than 33 countries in Africa.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the successful close of the N148.7 billion Rights Issue subscription exercise following the completion of the verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and final clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Stanbic IBTC Holdings said the Rights Issue was oversubscribed by 21.9 percent, adding that the holding company has injected N140 billion into Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Kunle Adedeji, acting Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc while commenting on the just concluded rights issue programme said that “The turnout and participation of existing shareholders taking up their rights was impressive such that the rights issue was oversubscribed by 21.9percent to the tune of N181.4 billion. Our shareholders’ interest shows the confidence they continue to have in the brand,” he said.
“We appreciate the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lead Issuing house, Joint Issuing houses and other stakeholders in the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise.
“We are optimistic about future opportunities, as the injection of new capital will position us to take advantage of them to enable us to deliver to our shareholders. To all shareholders, we are grateful for your unwavering belief and support for the Stanbic IBTC Brand and your willingness to continue this journey with us,” Adedeji said.
Having received an injection of N140 billion from the parent company, the Chief Executive of the Banking subsidiary, Wole Adeniyi, remarked that “the injection of the new capital into the banking subsidiary is a positive development. This will enable the Bank to seize additional opportunities within the industry and enhance our Single Obligor Limit (SOL).
“We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our regulators, issuing houses, and all other stakeholders. We extend our sincere gratitude for your continued support.”
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